To
THE MEN AND WOMEN OF GUJARAT,
I am dictating this from my bed early on Wednesday morning. It is
the second day of the fast though twenty-four hours have not been
completed since the fast commenced. It is the last day of posting
for this week's Harijan. Hence, I have decided to address a few words
in Gujarati to the people of Gujarat.
I do not regard this fast as an ordinary fast. I have undertaken it
after deep thought and yet it has sprung not from reasoning but God's
will that rules men's reason. It is addressed to no particular section
or individual and yet it is addressed equally to all. There is no
trace of anger of any kind behind it nor the slightest tinge of impatience.
But behind it is the realization that there is a time for everything
and an opportunity, once missed never returns. Therefore, the only
thing that now remains is for every Indian to think as to what his
or her duty in the present hour is. Gujaratis are Indians. So, whatever
I write in Gujarati is addressed equally to all the people of India.
Delhi is the Metropolis of India. If, therefore, we really in our
hearts do not subscribe to the two nation theory, in other words,
if we do not regard the Hindus and the Muslims as constituting two
distinct nations, we shall have to admit that the picture that Delhi
presents today is not what we have envisaged always of the capital
of India. Delhi is the Eternal City, as the ruins of its fore-runners—Indraprastha
and Hastinapur testify. It is the heart of India. Only a nit-wit can
regard it as belonging to the Hindus or the Sikhs only. It may sound
harsh but it is the literal truth. From Kanya Kumari to Kashmir and
from Karachi to Dibrugarh in Assam, all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis,
Christians and Jews who people this vast sub-continent and have adopted
it as their dear motherland, have an equal right to it. No one has
a right to say that it belongs to the majority community only and
that the minority community can only remain there as the underdog.
Whoever serves it with the purest devotion must have the first claim.
Therefore, anyone who wants to drive out of Delhi all Musalmans as
such must be set down as its enemy No. 1 and therefore, enemy No.
1 of India. We are rushing towards that catastrophe. It is the bounden
duty of every son and daughter of India to take his or her full share
in averting it.
What should we do then? If we would see our dream of Panchayat Raj,
i.e. true democracy realized, we would regard the humblest and lowest
Indian as being equally the ruler of India with the tallest in the
land. This presupposes that all are pure or will become pure if they
are not. And purity must go hand-in-hand with wisdom. No one would
then harbour any distinction between community and community, caste
and out-caste. Everybody would regard all as equal with oneself and
hold them together in the silken net of love. No one would regard
another as untouchable. We would hold as equal the toiling labourer
and the rich capitalist. Everybody would know how to earn an honest
living by the sweat of one's brow and make no distinction between
intellectual and physical labour. To hasten this consummation, we
would voluntarily turn ourselves into scavengers. No one who has wisdom
will ever touch opium, liquor or any intoxicants. Everybody would
observe Swadeshi as the rule of life and regard every woman, not being
his wife, as his mother, sister or daughter according to her age,
never lust after her in his heart. He would be ready to lay down his
life when occasion demands it, never want to take another's life.
If he is a Sikh in terms of the commandment of the Gurus he would
have the heroic courage to stand single- handed and alone—without
yielding an inch of ground— against the "one lakh and a
quarter" enjoined by them. Needless to say, such a son of India
will not want to be told what his duty in the present hour is.